Social Media 101
It used to be so easy.
You wanted to get the word out?
Throw it in the newspaper. That’s where everyone was.
Fast forward to today. We find ourselves in the thick of the digital revolution.
We could stay where we were, but no one’s there.
Everyone has embraced this rapid-paced digital world.
As the church, we so desperately need to meet people where they are at. We need to engage on social media, or be left behind.
To you that may seem daunting.
Let me set you up with some basic tips to get you started on social media:
1. GET HELP
Find a young person in your church who knows social media and is good at it and set them up to run it for you. They may need some direction in what to post.
2. ENGAGE ON INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK
Make sure to be engaged on Instagram and Facebook. You can also engage on others such as Twitter, but definitely start with the big two.
3. USE A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGING PLATFORM
To make things easier, use a social media managing platform such as Hootsuite to publish and schedule your content. You can have up to three social media accounts for free and schedule things in advance to auto-post.
4. WHAT TO POST?
For content, you can promote events you have and sermon series you are doing, but don’t make it only an advertising platform. Engage with people where they are at. Post inspiring stories from your congregation.
Use Instagram stories during your events and services to give people a glimpse into the excitement and life of your church. Find a need in your community and rally people in your community to meet that need with an event page.
5. WHO TO FOLLOW?
The best way to learn is by seeing how other people are doing it well. Follow these churches in our District, who are doing social media well to get some creative ideas flowing:
-Discovery Church (Edmonton)
-FA Church (Calgary)
-WECA (Edmonton)
-Hope City Church (Edmonton)
With all of this, remember 2 things:
Post high-quality images and video only. No blurry, off-centered, or stretched images allowed.
You have to work with an 8.5 second attention span. When people see your posts, you need to grip them immediately with the image or video to keep them interested. Then you have 8.5 seconds to capture their attention after they’ve stopped on your post. Keep it simple and to the point.
Jeremy Gifford has years of leadership experience in youth, young adults, and pastoral roles. He and his wife, Rachel, are graduates of Vanguard College. He currently is the Lead Pastor of Life Church in Edmonton.